Process for the manufacture of asphalt from crude mineral oil or residuum thereof.



C. B.. FORWARD. PROCESS FOR THE MANUFAOTUBB 0F ASPHALT FROM ORUDEMINERAL OIL OR BESIDUUM THEBEOF.

' APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7, 1913.

,088,692, l Patented Mar. 3 1914.

'UNITED STATES PATEN T OFFIOE.

CHAUNCEY B; FORWARD, OF'URBANA, OHIO.

PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF ASPHALT FROM CRUDE MINERAL OIL 0ERESIDUUM THEREOF.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, CHAUNGEX B. FonwAnD, acitizen of the United States, residing at Urbana, in the county of Cham-,paignand State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Processes for the Manufacture of As halt from CrudeMineral Oil or Resi uum Thereof, of which the following isaspecification.

My invention relates to a process for the manufacture of asphalt fromrcrude mineral oil or residuum thereof as hereinafter shown and describedand more particularly pointed out in the claims.

From my experimental work with oils from practically all the known oilfields of the world I have found asphalt to be the base of each andevery one and have therefore worked to secure an economical way toseparate the oils from the base and make the same into a quality ofasphalt equal to the natural product for all purposes for which asphaltis used.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional view of a retortand a diagrammatic view of a series of condensing pipes and traps whichare arbitrarily shown as being all in the same vertical plane t0 avoidconfusion in tracing the flow of the liquid and to better understand theoperation. Fig. 2 is a cross section of the condensing pipes and trapsshowing their proper work ing relations with the branches or sectionshorizontally arranged and the traps vertically placed, that is,.at rightangles to carry off the asphalt product at different points by gravityinto the vessel. Fig. 3 is a similar view to Fig. 1, but showing adifferent course of the uid through the pipes as indicated by arrows.

The retort as shown comprises a series of inclined pipes P arranged inparallel relation and connected at their ends to provide ar circuitoustravel of the oil therethrough. Pipes P are confined in a jacket Jmounted at its ends upon the furnace walls F, and steam pipes S connectwith said jacket. This provides a steam jacket about the pipes tomaintain the temperature 1n the pipes uniformly their full length andwhich can be done better in that Way than if the pipes are exposeddirect to the flame from the gas burner B. Pipes P may be 22 feetSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application. led June 7, 1513.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914i.

serial No. 772,269.

in length, more or less, according to the character of the crude oilbeing treated and the,quality of asphalt I wish to obtain. The ends ofthe said pipes P are united by suitable connections located on theoutside of the jacket J and removable screw plugs t there- 1n permitcleaning of the pipes when desired, and as connected said pipes P make acontinuous coil which is fully exposed to the super-heated steam in thejacket J, the superheating being sufficient to maintain a temperature of650 F. within the pipes as shown by a thermometer or pyrometer at thefront end of the retort as indicated by T.

The oil is forced by pump O into the intake end a of the first pipe l ofthe coil, and this intake end is also connected to an air or steamsupply tank or compressor C by a pipe c. The flow of liquid iscontinuous and renders a sustained pressure of about forty pounds. Theair or steam is also continuously supplied to pipe P at about the samepressure and a suitable nozzle is used at the mouth or intake a tothoroughly atomize the oil. The temperature of 650o F. which isconstantly maintained in the retort, I have found to be satisfactory forreducing the atomized -oil to a gaseous or vaporized state without.undue coking, but I do not wish to be arbitrarily confined to thistemperature as different oils require somewhat ditierent tem peraturesaccording to the quantity of asphalt base contained therein. Theessential thing is to keep the temperature below a point that wouldcause cokingr of the product in the retort. The asphalt which forms thebase of all mineral oils is not vaporized under this temperature, but isin such a liquid condition as to be as lilnpid as heavy paraffin oil ata temperature of 175o F., so that the pressure together with thedownward inclination of the pipe in the re tort, keeps it flowing. Theobject is to keep the asphalt base in movement topreventcoking orsolidifying thereof while subjecting it to such temperatures as may berequired to vaporize the lighter constituents of the oil. The atomizingof the oil under pressure and its forced passage through coil P permitsthe volatilization of the various grades or gravities of oil containedin the original product at the start and these various grades may becondensed separately by the valves 11, 12, 13 and 14 for the other theuseof a series of condensers as shown in my application 772,270 forLetters Patent filed coincidently with this, or they may be allcondensed in a worm condenser of the ordinary construction,substantially' as shown. N 0W I have found that the heavier portions ofthe vaporized oil as it comes from the retort will condense at a veryhigh temperature and such condensation coinmences to take placeimmediately after its leaving the retort. Therefore, I immediately trapthe asphalt base just at the point of its leaving the retort if I desireto secure a hard asphalt for a base for paints, but if I desire to get aproduct similar to maltha (which is a liquid asphalt) tobe used as aflux for softening the natural asphalt or any other purpose for whichsuch a flux is used, I trap the productat the end of a4 pipe 6 ten totwenty-five feet more orless long according to how soft or liquid anasphalt is desired and the quality of the oil I started with., Theheavier portions of the oil which condense in this pipe at once combinewith the asphalt base and .are discharged with the asphalt as Iit comesfrom the trap. I have also arranged'this pipe with lateral branches orsections K, L, M and N, see Fig. 2 in Which L represents one of saidbranches or sections, so that a variable asphalt product can be trappedofl" at different desired points therein by opening or closing thevarious valves as shown in the diagrammatic Figs. 1 and 3. By so doing Ican secure an asphalt base at any degree of hardness desired from thatof hard and brittle to the soft liquid state according to the demand ofthe market at the time. The branches or sections K to N are horizontallyplaced and at right angles to the traps, but in Figs. 1 and 3, all thebranch pipes K, L, M and N are shown as vertical. This is a merediagrammatic showing in order that the course of the oil may be tracedWithout confusion or mistake in a single figure. To illustrate, if Iwish tosecure a hard asphalt as a base for paints I open the valve 10 inthe pipe connection for trap 1 which is located immediately outside ofthe retort, closing at the saine time all of traps 2, 3, '4 and 5 whichare likewise connected to the straight discharge :pipe '6 leading toWorm 7 of the still 8. The discharge from the traps is by pipe 9 to theopen vessel W, therefore the various valves 15, 16, 17 and 18 in pipe 9are left open, as is also the case with valves 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 inpipe 6. Valves 24 to 31 inclusive for the condensing sections of pipe K,L, M and N, are all closed when trap 1 is open to permit thesubstantially pure asphalt base to be discharged into vessel W. At thecommencement of the operation I temporarily I close the valve 32 on theoutlet side oftrap 1l until the trap is filled with the asphalt base andthen open it, thus prevent-ing the vapors from passing downward throughthe said trap and pipe 9 and compelling their outward flow throu h pipe6 to condenser 8. The operation of separating the asphalt base in itspurest and unmodied state is continuous. Now assuming that I Wish toobtain an asphalt product of different character and consistency, say aliquid asphalt base for a flux or any purpose for Which suchl a flux isused, I can do so without any change or modification of steps at the.retort by returning constituent parts of the vaporized product to theasphalt base in a greater or less degree, a step which is illustrated inFig. 3, wherein the asphalt base and vapors are jointly caused to passthrough all the sections K,'L, M and N before being separated by trap 5.Thus, in this view the valve 10 is closed and traps 1, 2, 3 and 4 arecut ofi', whereas trap 5 is opened to pipe 6 by opening valve 14. Valves11, '12 and 13 are also closed, and so is valve 18 beneath the trap 5 inpipe 9. Valves 19, 20, 21 and 22 in pipe 6 are also closed to cause theasphalt base and vapors to vpass through said pipe sections when theirrespective valves 24 to 31 are opened,

lValve 23 in pipe 6 is left open. The Lresult.

is that the product from the retort must pass through all the sectionsbefore the vapors and the asphalt base are directed over differentchannels,the asphalt base passing through trap 5 being modified to theextent of the condensations occurring in all said sections. The flow ofvapors through Asections K. L, M and N and pipe 6 and of the modifiedasphalt product through trap 5 and pipe 9 is continuous, and when thesesections are used only the heavier portions of the oil' which condenseat a high temperature are mixed again with the asphalt base. Theremaining vaporized portions of the oil pass on and are condensed in theWorm still S.

Before starting continuous operations valve 33 of trap 5 is closedtoprevent the vapors from passing through to pipe 9, but when.

the trap 5 is illed with the liquid asphalt base said valve 33 isopened. Valve 18 beneath trap 5 being also closed, the liquid asphaltbase is prevented from backing up and fouling the other traps connectedwith pipe 9.v Valve 23 is only necessary when it is desired to forcesuper-heated steam or air through the various coils or traps When theymay become clogged or fouled. Valve 23 would then be closed and theother valves opened or closed according to the point desired to belcleaned out. If I wished to secure a medium grade of asphalt basebetween the hard a'nd liquid asphalt base I would open up trap 3 and usesections K and L, cutting out all the other sections and traps, and itWill readily be seen from this description how a similar operation Withsections K or K, L, and M and traps 2 and 4 will produce a differentasphaltic product from any of the foregoing steps.

In order to operate more eco-nomically I may use two open vessels W,each of sufficient capacity to receive the asphalt base from say a 36hour more or less run of the retort so that While one is being filledwith the asphalt base from the retort the other could be nished off withthe after treatment in the open vessel and so keep the retort incontinuous operation. This after treatment is as follows: As the asphaltbase is trapped ofIp it immediately iiows into an open vessel lV inwhich it is maintained at a temperature of approximately one hundreddegrees F. less than it Was in the retort for a period of from eight totwenty four hours according to the grade of asphalt I am seeking tosecure and also according to the character of the oil I originallystarted with. There can manifestly be no hard or fast rule as to howlong it is to be subjected to the lower temperature in the open vesselas it Will depend entirely on the grade of oil started with and thequality of the asphalt desired to be obtained. The result of thetreatment at this lower telnperature in the open vessel is to oxidizethe asphalt base and it thereby acquires the adhesive and cohesivequalities Which it lacked as it came from the retort. Experience in theart, alone, can be the only teacher as to how long to continue the.treatment in the open vessel as that depends entirely on con'- ditionsas previously stated above.

There will be no material loss in Weight in the quantity of asphalt bythe treatment in the open vessel as all the light portions of the oilscontained in the oil originally started will have passed ofi' in vaporfrom the retort into the condenser beyond where the asphaltbase has beentrapped off and only fixed gases of no consequence in Weight will passfrom the product in the open vessel. The asphalt so secured will beasphalt pure and simple and have all the qualities necessary for a basefor paints, roofing, paving, insulating or any purpose for which thenatural product can be used.

What I claim is:

1. The process herein described of removing an asphalt base from crudeoil or any of its constituents consisting in atomizing the oil to betreated and forcing the atomized product. under a sustained pressurethrough a retort heated tc a temperature below the coking point of theasphalt base as it passes through the retort.

2. A process for the manufacture of asphalt. from crude oil or any ofits constituents consisting in atomizing the productto be treated andforcing il through a retort heated to a temperature below the cokingpoint of the asphalt base contained in the product, and in drawing ofi"the asphalt base and subsequently subjecting the same in an open vesselto a n'laterially lower temperature than the temperature in the retortfor a period of eight to twenty-four hours, more or less.

3. A process of manufacturing an asphalt product from crude oil,consisting in separating all the volatile parts of the crude oil fromits asphalt base by subjecting the crude oil to a high temperature in aretort, and while discharging the hot. volatile and base productsreturning a part of the heavier portions of the former to the latter.

4. A process of manufacturing an asphalt product from crude oil,consisting in heating the oil in a retort until all the constituentparts thereof are separated; discharging the volatile and base partsjointly through condensing pi es of different lengths; and trapping othe asphalt base together with a portion of the heavier oils atpredetermined different points in the said pipes to obtain either ahard, soft or intermediate asphalt product. y

5. A process of manufacturing asphalt from crude oil, consisting insubjecting the crude oil to a high temperature in a retort unt-il allthe volatile parts thereof are separated from the asphalt base and incon- (lensingthe heavier portions of the volatile parts in variabledegree immediately after the product is discharged from said retort andmixing the said heavier portions with the said base as it is discharged,and subsequently heating the discharged product in an open vessel untila predetermined adhesivc and cohesive condition thereof is obtained.

G. The process herein described consisting in atomizing a crude oil; inproducing a continuous forced travel of the atomized oil and a gravityflow of the heavier precipitates thereof through a set of horizonto ahigh temperature in a retort until the the condensing pipes; and insubsequently asphalt base thereof alone remains in a, heating saidproduct in anopen vessel. 1o liquid state; in discharging thevolatilized In testimony whereof I aHiX my signature and the liquid basepart-s' together through in presence of two Witnesses.

5 condensing pipes for a greater or less ex- CHUNCEY B. FORWARD.

tended exposure thereto dependent upon the lVitnesses: grade of asphaltproduct desired; in trap` E. M. FISHER,

ping the asphalt product at selected parts in H. T. FISHER.

